Radical Economic Transformation

Finance

Laws Affecting Small Business: Finance was launched by entrepreneur Darlene Menzies on 22 November 2022. Scroll down for the full text or PDF of the booklet. View the launch here:


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SYNOPSIS

Problems

All businesses need money to start up, trade, or expand. Existing businesses generally obtain the necessary finance from their own trading income, but new businesses, and established businesses that want to expand, often have to borrow money.

All lenders need to charge sufficient interest to cover the costs of assessing the loan application and monitoring the loan repayments, and to include a premium for the risk as well as a profit margin. But the National Credit Act prohibits a lender in a credit agreement entered into for the development of a small business from recovering more interest than a specified percentage. This statutory interest-rate ceiling, rather than assisting the poor and small businesses, has instead had the effect of drying up loan finance for these groups. There was an exemption under the Usury Act, 1968 which allowed lenders to charge an economic rate of interest on loans up to R10,000, but this fell away with the repeal of that Act by the National Credit Act.

Lenders frequently need to borrow money themselves to lend to their borrowers. However, the Banks Act states that only public companies that are registered as banks may accept deposits from the public as a regular feature of business. There are exemptions, but only for stokvels and credit unions that accept deposits from, and provide funds to, their members.

Small businesses often need to buy vehicles and other expensive equipment. Banks and other credit-grantors provide the necessary credit to small businesses, which then pay the purchase price with interest to the credit-grantor in instalments. If the equipment breaks down during this repayment period and the small business cannot afford the cost of repair, the business is often forced to cease operations, and the credit-grantor is unable to recover the money owing to it. The credit-grantor may be willing to keep the small business in operation by paying the repair costs itself, but the Credit Agreements Act prohibits a credit-grantor from recovering the cost of repair or interest on it as part of the transaction for the purchase of the vehicle. It does not pay a general bank to enter into a separate loan agreement just for repair costs. Anomalously, the National Credit Act allows lenders to recover the cost of insurance for repair costs. However, it prohibits the recovery by lenders of repair costs themselves.

Recommendations

  • Repeal the National Credit Act’s limits on interest rates.
  • If the National Credit Act’s credit ceilings are not repealed, the Act should be amended to allow for an exemption for loans up to R175,000.
  • If the proposed amendment of the Act and exemption are introduced, the exemption should be adjusted annually for inflation.
  • Financial intermediaries that borrow money from the public to lend to small businesses should be exempted from having to register as banks under the Banks Act.
  • If the National Credit Act’s credit restrictions are not repealed, the Act should be amended so that grantors of credit to purchase movables can recover the costs of repairing the movables plus interest from the credit-receiver.

THE NEED FOR FINANCE

All businesses need money. Aspiring entrepreneurs need funds to start up in business. Some established businesses need capital to expand. And every business requires money to buy stock, spares or raw materials, and to pay wages and other overheads.

Business undertakings usually pay overheads from their own trading income. However, if a firm’s income fluctuates, or the firm is faced with sudden high expenses or bad debts, or wants to move into new fields of activity, the business may temporarily need to find finance from an outside source.

THE NEED FOR START-UP FINANCE

Some people have money of their own to finance a new business venture, such as savings, severance pay from previous employment, or an inheritance. But it is unusual for young people to have personal resources of this kind.

A few prospective entrepreneurs are fortunate enough to receive start-up finance in the form of a donation from a family member or a close friend. And sometimes an entrepreneur can find an investor who is prepared to risk his or her funds in a new venture in return for a share of the profits if the business should succeed. However, investment finance such as this is usually not forthcoming unless the investor believes that the potential for success is high; investors do not always share the small entrepreneur’s confident expectation that the pursuit will be profitable. Moreover, an investor expects a higher return than a lender because of the risk that the business will fail and there will be no profits to distribute.

In practice, many small businesses have to seek finance in the form of a loan. Loan finance is also the source of finance which is most affected by legislation.

OBTAINING LOAN FINANCE

The small entrepreneur or entrepreneur-to-be can approach a number of different persons or institutions for a loan. He or she may try family members or close friends first. If they are either unable or unwilling to lend the required sum, the prospective borrower might resort to a local moneylender or mashonisa. Mashonisas are factory-floor financiers, and they can be found in many workplaces in South Africa. Most of their loans are to fellow employees, and the amounts involved are often quite small, with short repayment periods. For example, R2,000 could be advanced on condition that R2,200 be repaid one month later. The interest is thus ten percent for the month, or 120 percent per year.

Besides these workplace lenders, there are other small credit agencies. Unlike mashonisas, who almost always know their borrowers, these lending agencies usually offer loans to strangers, and they therefore require some form of security. If the borrower has no assets to offer, he or she may be asked to hand over his/her electronic banking (ATM) card, together with the code (PIN) number, so that the lender has first access to the borrower’s monthly salary.

A prospective borrower can also obtain finance from a pawnbroker, who lends money against a pledge of the borrower’s movable property.

These informal moneylenders are often disparaged as “loan sharks” who exploit the needy and gullible.

Alternatively, a prospective borrower could raise finance from a stokvel or similar savings club. To obtain money from such a club, the borrower must be a member, and must contribute funds to the club’s common pool. Usually, members have to wait until it is their turn to receive a lump sum from the common fund of the society.

There are also other microlending institutions which have been established as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) specifically to lend to the developing business sector.

Besides all these more or less informal sources of loan finance, a borrower can approach an established bank for a loan.

The size of the loan and the creditworthiness of the borrower influences whether, and from whom, a potential borrower will be granted a loan. Mashonisas, credit agencies, pawnshops, and microlending NGOs are organised to lend small amounts to start-up businesses and other small borrowers. Banks, on the other hand, are equipped to make large loans to people with sophisticated business plans and property to pledge to the banks as security.

INTEREST ON SMALL OR RISKY LOANS

A lender must assess whether the loan applicant is a good risk. Once a loan is granted, it must be monitored and administered.

The time and work involved in assessing an application for a small loan can be the same as that required to assess a loan for a large amount. Indeed, the cost could be even greater if the loan applicant has no security or proven credit record or is otherwise a risky prospect.

Moreover, the time spent by the lender in monitoring the debtor’s repayments can be the same for small loans as for large loans, and may be greater if the borrower is a notable credit risk. Clearly, too, it is far more costly to administer ten loans of R30,000 each than one loan of R300,000.

Also, if the lender believes that the borrower may be an unsafe credit risk, the lender may wish to compensate for the greater possibility that the loan may not be repaid by charging the borrower a higher rate of interest than he would charge to a more reliable borrower.

This means that in order for the lending institution to protect itself against risk, cover its overheads and make a profit, the amount of interest it charges on a small or risky loan would have to be disproportionately bigger in relation to the size of the loan than the interest on a larger loan.

NATIONAL CREDIT ACT

The National Credit Act, 2005 places limits on the amount of interest that lenders may charge to their borrowers.

A lender is prohibited from charging a small-business borrower interest at a rate exceeding the Reserve Bank’s ruling repo (repurchase) rate (which for a time had been 6.75 percent but has since July 2019 been reduced to address economic conditions and the coronavirus crisis to 3.5 percent to date) plus a prescribed interest rate of, currently, 27 percent per annum (totalling 30.5 percent).

 Any lender who contravenes this prohibition is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of up to R40,000, or one year’s imprisonment, or both.

The Reserve Bank is exempt from these lending restrictions. The Act does not apply to loans to companies and partnerships with an asset value or annual turnover of R1 million or more, or to loans with a principal debt of R250,000 or more to smaller companies and partnerships.

EFFECT OF NATIONAL CREDIT ACT ON LOAN FINANCING OF SMALL BUSINESSES

The effect of the Act is that where a loan falls below a certain amount, the lending institution cannot recover all its overheads (i.e., its administration costs for assessing the loan application and monitoring repayments) plus some profit. Since it cannot compensate for higher costs and higher risk by increasing its interest rates, it simply refuses to make loans to higher-risk applicants, and at the same time establishes high minimum-loan amounts to discourage loan applications from small borrowers.

The result has been that the grant of small or risky loans at legal rates of interest to small businesses has been constrained. Banks usually do not grant loans of amounts less than about R50,000. The Small Enterprise Finance Agency lends out bulk wholesale capital to intermediaries which grant loans to small businesses of amounts which could be as small as R500.   

 While the oft-stated intention of interest-ceiling legislation is to help those classes of debtors which include the poor and very small businesses, its effect is to exclude them from the market. Far from solving their credit problems, interest-rate ceilings intensify them by diverting credit to better classes of borrower, because lenders cannot assume the high cost of investigation, collection and probable default inherent in lending to the more modest or risky borrower. The main beneficiaries of interest-ceiling laws are therefore the wealthy, who get more of the available credit, at lower rates of interest, than they would in the absence of interest-rate ceilings.

 Hardest-hit by interest-ceiling laws are high-risk innovators who need money to promote new products. While their applications for loans are turned down, established businesses with existing capital find it easy to borrow more to expand their existing product lines. Interest-ceiling laws thus protect existing businesses and discriminate against new businesses and entrepreneurship.

By limiting the amount of interest that banks and other financial intermediaries are permitted to charge to their borrowers, the National Credit Act in effect also reduces the rate of interest that a financial institution can pay to its depositors. The result is that savings are discouraged.

Finally, the National Credit Act is widely ignored. It is known that many lenders do not observe its limits on interest rates. Nor is the statute effectively enforced. The widespread disobedience to its provisions breeds disrespect for law in general.

RECOMMENDATION 1

Repeal the National Credit Act’s limits on interest rates.

If the National Credit Act’s ceilings on interest rates are repealed, lenders will once again be free to charge a market rate of interest that will enable them to cover the costs and risks of lending small amounts to risky borrowers. In particular, it will become economically viable for them to grant loans to small businesses.

 This in turn will attract lenders back to the small-loan market. Greater competition amongst lenders will benefit borrowers, who will be able to choose the lending institution that charges the lowest interest rate.

Considerations (regarding recommendation 1)

This is a controversial recommendation. Many people believe that it is necessary to fix maximum interest rates to protect the poor and apparently gullible from unscrupulous moneylenders who take advantage of their desperate situation. These people maintain that banks must simply start granting loans to small businesses and poor people.

While such sentiments may be worthy, they overlook the harmful economic effects of interest-ceiling legislation on the very classes of people that they are meant to protect. The National Credit Act fixes a maximum price of credit, and like all price-fixing laws, it has the effect of drying up the supply of the product the price of which has been fixed. While it may seem counter-intuitive, legislation that fixes a maximum rate of interest on loans does not help the poor to borrow at cheaper rates of interest, but instead prevents lending to the poor. Small businesses and other small and risky borrowers will benefit from the repeal of the National Credit Act’s limits on interest rates. The small borrower is not so much concerned with the interest rate as with the lack of finance, and would in most cases agree to pay higher interest if only he or she can obtain capital.

If the interest-rate ceiling is repealed, the common law of usury will apply. The common law holds that when a creditor sues his debtor, the court will reduce the rate of interest if the debtor can show that the transaction is tainted with oppression or extortion or something akin to fraud, or that there has been unfair dealing, or that undue advantage has been taken of youth or inexperience.

EXEMPTION UNDER PREVIOUS ACT FOR SMALL LOANS

The Usury Act empowered the Minister to exempt any category of loan from the provisions of that Act.

In 2005, the Minister had issued a notice exempting from the provisions of the Act any moneylending transaction in which the loan amount did not exceed R10,000 if the borrower had to repay the loan within 36 months after the date on which the loan amount was paid to him or her. The lender, before agreeing to the loan, had to give the prospective borrower a written statement of the amount of the loan and the amount of interest and other costs which the borrower would have to pay.

The introduction of that exemption had meant that microlending NGOs, mashonisas and credit agencies of any kind could lend up to R10,000 to small businesses at economic rates of interest within the law. This led to an increase in the granting of loans to small businesses. But the Usury Act was repealed in 2006 by the National Credit Act, and the exemption itself lapsed with the commencement in 2007 of the National Credit Act’s provisions governing interest rates.

RECOMMENDATION 2

If the National Credit Act’s credit ceilings are not repealed, the Act should be amended to allow for an exemption for loans up to R175,000.

Exempting loans up to R175,000 will enable all providers of loan finance, microlenders of different kinds as well as large banks, to grant loans economically to small businesses.

The effect of such an exemption would be that a lender could then lawfully charge a borrower interest on small loans up to R175,000 at a rate which would be sufficient to cover the lender’s costs and risks.

RECOMMENDATION 3

If the proposed amendment of the Act and exemption are introduced, the exemption should be adjusted annually for inflation.

The proposed exemption for loans up to R175,000 should be increased each year to compensate for the continued decline in the value of money.

Considerations (regarding recommendations 2 and 3)

It could be argued that it is undesirable to extend the present exemption to larger loans on the ground that it is unacceptable to allow loan sharks to exploit borrowers of larger amounts.

It must be stressed, however, that the interest-rate ceilings did not enable the poor and small businesses to borrow at lower rates of interest. Instead, they have caused loans for these intended beneficiaries of the legislation to dry up altogether. This credit gap for loan amounts below the amounts at which banks and other finance providers can lend economically will not be bridged except by an exemption.

SAVERS AND OTHER LENDERS OF LOAN FINANCE

On the other side of the loan finance equation are savers and other lenders. Many members of the public are lenders without even realising it: When they deposit their savings in a bank, what they are doing in fact is lending their money to the bank, which agrees to repay it with interest.

According to the terms of the Banks Act, any person or business that accepts deposits from the general public as a regular feature of business commits a criminal offence unless registered as a bank. Only a public company can register as a bank. The Prudential Authority established by the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017 must be satisfied that every executive officer of the bank is competent in finance and honest, that the company will be able to establish itself successfully as a bank, and that its business will be conducted prudently and with the necessary financial means.

A bank must manage its affairs in such a way that its share capital and reserve funds never fall below R250 million or ten percent of its quarterly average assets and its risk exposures weighted according to the degree of risk, whichever is the greater. It must also keep a special reserve account and deposit account with the Reserve Bank, and maintain a minimum balance in those accounts.

The Banks Act allows the banking authorities to grant exemptions from the registration requirement. The authorities have granted exemptions to stokvels (which, if they hold members’ contributions exceeding R100,000, must be members of an  approved self-regulatory body), and to credit unions or savings and credit cooperatives which are subject to the Cooperatives Act, 2005, and supervised by the Cooperative Banks Development Agency established by the Cooperative Banks Act, 2007. A stokvel, or a credit union or savings and credit cooperative, may only raise money from its members.

These exemptions are very narrow. They do not benefit other credit agencies and microlending NGOs which may want to borrow money from the public to use for making loans to small business.

RECOMMENDATION 4

Financial intermediaries that borrow money from the public to lend to small businesses should be exempted from having to register as banks under the Banks Act.

Lending institutions that take in deposits from the public to finance their own lending operations to small businesses should be granted an exemption from the Banks Act’s requirement that they be registered as banks. This will facilitate the provision of funds for small business development.

Considerations (regarding recommendation 4)

Investors depositing money with moneylenders would probably be at higher risk than if they deposited their funds with registered banks. In return they would expect a higher interest rate than they receive from the banks. It would be necessary to make clear to the general public that deposits with exempted institutions would not enjoy the protection of the Banks Act. A possibility would be for such exempted deposit-takers to state in all publicity material and in a prominent place at their business premises that they are not registered under the Banks Act. Depositors are most at risk when they are under the illusion that repayment of their capital is guaranteed – government surveillance can reduce risk but not eliminate it entirely.

FINANCING THE COST OF REPAIRING VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT BOUGHT ON CREDIT

Besides obtaining loans, small businesses (for example, taxi operators) often buy vehicles and other capital equipment on credit. These purchases are financed by a bank, which pays the full purchase price to the dealer and acquires ownership of the goods. The purchaser has immediate use of the equipment, but acquires ownership only after refunding in instalments to the bank the full purchase price plus interest. While the purchaser is still paying, the bank has an interest in the equipment. If the purchaser defaults, the bank usually has the right to repossess the equipment and resell it to a third party.

Equipment that is used regularly in a small business often requires major maintenance and repair work. A taxi or other vehicle, for instance, can be very expensive to maintain. A small business purchasing a vehicle on credit frequently cannot afford to pay repair costs on top of the credit instalments and interest due to the bank. The vehicle then falls into disrepair; the taxi operator starts losing income and ceases to pay his or her instalments to the bank.

Taxis and other vehicles that have not been serviced and repaired are worth less than vehicles that have been properly maintained. The bank is prejudiced if it repossesses a neglected vehicle, because the resale price of the vehicle is lower.

A small-business-person whose equipment requires major repairs and who does not have the money to pay for them sometimes asks the bank to advance the money to pay the repair costs. But the bank is discouraged by legislation from helping in this way.

CREDIT AGREEMENTS ACT PROHIBITS SELLERS ON CREDIT FROM RECOVERING REPAIR COSTS

The Credit Agreements Act prohibits a bank, or other credit-grantor which has financed a sale of property, from recovering from the purchaser costs disbursed for the repair and maintenance of the property.

The bank is not prevented from lending its purchaser the money to repair the property. Such a loan agreement would be a separate transaction from the existing credit transaction for purchase of the goods. But it is uneconomic for the bank to enter into a separate agreement to lend money for repairs, especially for repairs to movable property: There are administrative costs in relation to assessing and granting the loan application, and controlling and monitoring repayment of the loan. It does not usually pay a bank to enter into such a transaction for an amount less than about R30,000.

The practical effect of this prohibition is that a small-business-owner who is purchasing a vehicle or other equipment on credit and who does not have the necessary funds to pay for the repair and servicing of the vehicle is often unable to carry on business or to continue paying instalments to the bank.

The bank is unable to recover the amount outstanding by reselling the vehicle without itself paying the cost of repair, and the price realised by the bank on reselling the vehicle to a third party frequently does not cover these repair costs.

RECOMMENDATION 5

If the National Credit Act’s credit restrictions are not repealed, the Act should be amended so that grantors of credit to purchase property, and movables in particular, can recover the costs of repairing the property plus interest from the credit-receiver.

It would assist a purchaser of movable property on credit if the bank which granted the credit could disburse the cost of necessary repairs of the movables. Credit-grantors should accordingly be permitted to grant and recover, as part of the credit transaction relating to the sale of the movables, the cost of repair and maintenance of the goods.

The most likely kinds of equipment which credit-grantors would agree to pay to repair are vehicles of all kinds, including vehicles used for the conveyance of passengers or freight or for earth-moving purposes, electronic equipment such as computers or computer-network server units, and television sets. Some general banks specialise in the financing of the purchase of computers and similar electronic goods.

If banks and other credit-grantors are permitted to recover repair costs plus interest, they may find that it is in their interest, as well as the interest of the purchaser, to allow the purchaser on credit to pay the amount owing over a longer period than at present. Purchasers of movables on credit often experience difficulty in paying the high monthly instalments. On minibus taxis, for example, banks are often asked to agree to lower instalments payable over longer periods.

Small businesses are using vehicles for longer periods than before. The average life of a vehicle on the road in South Africa is now longer than ten years. This means that vehicles require more maintenance and repairs over their lifetime than was the case when they were replaced more frequently.

Considerations (regarding recommendation 5)

It could be argued that allowing an entrepreneur to obtain repair costs from his or her bank and repay them with interest will drive the small business even deeper into debt and make it even more difficult to repay the purchase price still owing on the equipment.

But this concern is outweighed by the very real possibility that, if the business owner is unable to obtain the money to pay for repairs, the vehicle or equipment will fall into disuse and in many cases the small business will cease to operate altogether.

It is anomalous that the Credit Agreements Act does not permit costs of the repair of vehicles, equipment or other movable property to be recovered by credit-providers, but allows credit-providers to recover the cost of insurance for the repair or replacement of any such movable property.

Vehicles and other equipment can often cost more than a house. The cost of insuring them can be very high. Small businesses should have the option to borrow repair costs from his or her bank.

Select sources

Statutes and statutory instruments

South African Reserve Bank Act 90 of 1989 s 10A (maintenance by banks of minimum reserve balances in accounts with Bank);

Banks Act 94 of 1990—

s 1(1) svv “the business of a bank” (excludes activity designated by and performed i.a.w. conditions in Gazette notice), s 2 (application of Act), s 11(1) (registration pre-requisite for conducting business of bank); s 70 (minimum share capital and unimpaired reserve funds);

Govt Notice R1003 of 5 Oct 2001 (minimum capital and reserve funds to be maintained by banks);

Govt Notice 620 of 15 Aug 2014 (designation of activity not falling within “the business of a bank”: group of persons with common bond);

Adjustment of Fines Act 101 of 1991 s 1(1)(a) and (2) (calculating maximum fine): read with

Magistrates’ Courts Act 32 of 1944 s 92(1) (jurisdiction in punishments); and

Govt Notice 217 of 27 Mar 2014 (monetary jurisdiction);

National Small Enterprise Act 102 of 1996;

National Credit Act 34 of 2005—

Assented to 10 Mar 2006: Govt Notice 230 of 15 Mar 2006 (Gazette 28619);

s 4 (application of Act), s 7 (threshold determination and industry tiers), s 9 (categories of credit agreements), s 40 (registration of credit providers), s 42 (thresholds applicable to credit providers), s 89 (unlawful credit agreements), s 90 (unlawful provisions of credit agreement), s 100(1)(d) (prohibited charges), s 101(1)(a) (cost of credit), s 102(1)(b) (fees or charges: cost of extended warranty), s 105 (maximum rates of interest), s 106 (credit insurance), s 131 (repossession of goods), s 161 (penalties), s 172(3) and (4)(a) (repeal of laws, transitional arrangements), Sched 3 (transitional provisions) item 7(1) (preservation of instruments: Usury Act s 15A exemption registrations);

Proc 22 of 2006 (Gazette 28824 of 11 May): specific provisions inter alia of National Credit Act commencing—

On 1 Jun 2006:

s 172(4)(a) (repeal of Usury Act);

s 172(3) (transitional arrangements are in Sched 3);

Sched 3 item 7(1) (Usury Act s 15A exemption registrations are preserved for period determined by regulation under National Credit Act);

On 1 Jun 2007: Ch 5 (consumer credit agreements) incl s 105 (maximum rates of interest);

Govt Notice R489 of 31 May 2006 (regulations under National Credit Act): reg 73(1) (Usury Act s 15A exemption registrations remain valid until the coming into effect of National Credit Act’s s 105 (maximum rates of interest);

Co-operative Banks Act 40 of 2007

s 14(1)(g) (additional banking services prescribed by Minister); and 

Govt Notice R712 of 1 Jul 2009 Part 3 (regulations: banking services by co­operative bank);

Financial Sector Regulation Act 9 of 2017—

s 1(1) (definitions) svv “Prudential Authority”, “financial sector law” par (b) read with Sched 1

(Banks Act, 1990); s 111(1)(b) (licence requirement i.r.o. financial-product providers); s 290

(amendments) read with Sched 4 (Banks Act,1990: item 1(a), (d), (f) and (h); item 2; item 15)

Caselaw

Taylor v Hollard (1885­1888) 2 SAR 78 (Supreme Court of the Transvaal (South African Republic)) [1886] (per Kotze CJ, Brand and Burgers JJ concurring):

(The Transvaal courts will not countenance usury, in the sense of excessive and exorbitant interest, because to do so would be contrary to good morals, the interest of citizens, and the policy of the Roman-Dutch common law;

(There is a similar practice in the Court of Chancery in England in the case of unconscionable bargains, but which Courts of Equity there apply only with reference to the debt obligations of minors and other young persons: In one case the person relieved of his debt was 26 years old and a member of parliament when he entered into the transaction;

(In contrast, the Transvaal courts will enforce the rule against usury irrespective of the age of the debtor);

R v Sutherland [1961] 3 All SA 50 (A) at 54;

Msunduzi Municipality v MEC for Housing and ano [2004] 2 All SA 11 (SCA) par [21];

S A Bank of Athens Ltd v Van Zyl [2006] 1 All SA 118 (SCA);

AAA Investments (Pty) Ltd v Micro Finance Regulatory Council and ano 2006 (11) BCLR 1255 (CC) pars [58]–[60];

National Credit Regulator v Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd [2013] 1 All SA 335 (SCA) pars [11], [12];

Paulsen and ano v Slip Knot Investments 777 (Pty) Ltd [2015] 5 BCLR 509 (CC);

Edwards v FirstRand Bank Ltd t/a Wesbank [2016] 4 All SA 692 (SCA);

National Credit Regulator v Lewis Stores (Pty) Ltd and ano [2020] 2 All SA 31 (SCA) pars [11]–[22]

Legal commentaries

Guide to the National Credit Act (J W Scholtz, J M Otto, E van Zyl, C M van Heerden), LexisNexis (as updated to Jul 2020), pts 10.2(a) and 10.3.(b)) (Items recoverable by a credit provider);

Tydskrif vir Hedendaagse Romeins-Hollandse Reg 2010 pp 569–586, H Coetzee, “Voluntary surrender, repossession and reinstatement i.t.o. National Credit Act 34 of 2005”

Financial resources

The Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise Sector of South Africa, Jan 2016, Bureau for Economic Research, Stellenbosch University(research note commissioned by Small Enterprise Development Agency);

South African Business Funding Directory 2016/2017, Nov 2016, compiled by Ukwanda Growth Partners (author Lindo Sibisi);

Trading Economics, “South Africa: Interest rate 1998–2020” https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/interest-rate

Media reports

Fin24 20 Jun 2010, “Crisis in car insurance” (A van Zyl);

Finance and Banking Alert, 9 Mar 2016, “New Limits for Consumer Credit Charges”, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (B King, R Ismail);

Independent Online, 9 Apr 2016, Personal Finance, “Microlenders fume about lower rates” (Angelique Arde);

BusinessTech 13 Apr 2017, “The cost of owning a car in South Africa is about to get a whole lot more expensive” (staff writer);

Business Day 20 Jul 2017, “Reserve Bank surprises by cutting interest rates” (S Menon, T Foyn);

TimesLIVE SEBENZA 18 Oct 2017, “Need funding for your small business? Here’s what you need to know” (GCIS Vuk’uzenzele);SowetanLIVE 7 Dec 2017, “Consumers borrow from mashonisa at the risk of losing life or limb” (staff reporter)